\nFor all my buddies from TX that are close to Dallas, I say its about time.<\/p>\n
\tBy Sun Staff (contact)
\n\tMonday, May 19, 2014 | 11:30 a.m.<\/p>\n
\tSouthwest Airlines started accepting reservations today for new nonstop service from McCarran International Airport to Dallas Love Field. The flights begin Oct. 13.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe mid-October starting date coincides with the expiration of a 35-year-old federal law that limited most nonstop flights in and out of Love Field \u2013 Southwest\u2019s home base \u2013 to destinations Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Kansas, Alabama, Missisippi and Missouri.<\/p>\n
\tDeparting nonstop flights from Las Vegas are scheduled for 8:20 a.m., 11:55 a.m. and 4:50 p.m. daily. A fourth daily nonstop departing at 2:55 p.m. will begin Nov. 2. Return nonstop flights from Love Field are scheduled for 10:25 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7:55 p.m. daily. A fourth daily nonstop flight departing Dallas at 6:25 a.m. will begin Nov. 2.<\/p>\n
\tPublished fares run from $99 to $535 each way, according to Southwest’s website.<\/p>\n
\tThe so-called Wright Amendment, named after Jim Wright, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, was designed to spur growth at what was then the new Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.<\/p>\n
\tLas Vegas, Baltimore, Chicago\u2019s Midway Airport, Denver and Orlando are the first five cities getting the new nonstop Southwest flights into Dallas. Flights between Love Field and 10 other cities begin Nov. 2.<\/p>\n
\tCurrently Southwest customers in Las Vegas can fly to and from Love Field, which is closer to downtown Dallas than Dallas-Fort Worth International, but only on flights making a stop in one of the exempted states.<\/p>\n
\tAviation experts have speculated that Southwest\u2019s expansion in Dallas could lower fares in the market.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe official repeal of Wright Amendment federal flight restrictions signifies a turning point for the Southwest brand not just in Dallas, but from coast to coast,\u201d Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement in February. \u201cWe are pleased to offer this new service to the customers of our home airport, who have waited 34 long years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSouthwest is the largest carrier at McCarran.<\/p>\n
Posted by:<\/strong> TommyC on May 20, 2014, 1:37 am<\/p>\n